Será verdade?

Eu não sei se isto é verdade. Ou seja, se não passa no telejornal poderá ser verdade? De qualquer forma, li e, como se dizia noutros tempos, não posso ignorar. Não, não foi no Granma, foi num relatório . gov :

POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES

Highlights
• The official poverty rate in 2003 was 12.5 percent, up from 12.1 percent in 2002.
• In 2003, 35.9 million people were in poverty, up 1.3 million from 2002.
• Poverty rates remained unchanged for Hispanics, non-Hispanic Whites, and Blacks, although it rose for Whites and Asians.
• For children under 18 years old, both the poverty rate and the number in poverty rose between 2002 and 2003, from 16.7 percent to 17.6 percent, and from 12.1 million to 12.9 million, respectively.
The poverty rate of children under 18 remained higher than that of 18-to-64-year olds and that of seniors aged 65 and over (10.8 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, both unchanged from 2002).
• The poverty rate in 2003 (12.5 percent) is 9.9 percentage points lower than in 1959, the first
year for which poverty estimates are available, as shown in Figure 3.
From the most recent trough in 2000, both the number and rate have risen for three consecutive years, from 31.6 million and 11.3 percent in 2000, to 35.9 million and 12.5 percent in 2003.

Race and Hispanic Origin
In 2003, the poverty rate was 8.2 percent for non-Hispanic Whites, unchanged from 2002.
Because the poverty rate for these non-Hispanic Whites was lower than for the other racial groups, they accounted for 44.3 percent of the people in poverty, compared with 67.6 percent of the total population. For Blacks, neither the poverty rate nor the number in poverty changed between 2002 and 2003. People who reported Black as their only race, for example, had a poverty rate of 24.4 percent in 2003.

HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IN THE UNITED STATES

Highlights
• The number of people with health insurance coverage increased by 1.0 million in 2003, to 243.3 million (84.4 percent of the population).
• An estimated 15.6 percent of the population, or 45.0 million people, were without health insurance coverage in 2003, up from 15.2 percent and 43.6 million people in 2002.
• The percentage and number of people covered by employmentbased health insurance fell
between 2002 and 2003, from 61.3 percent and 175.3 million to 60.4 percent and 174.0 million.
• The percentage and number of people covered by government health insurance programs increased between 2002 and 2003, from 25.7 percent and 73.6 million to 26.6 percent and 76.8 million, driven by increases in the percentage and number of people covered by Medicaid (from 11.6 percent and 33.2 million to 12.4 percent and 35.6 million) and Medicare (from 13.4 percent and 38.4 million to 13.7 percent and 39.5 million).
• The proportion of children who were without health insurance did not change, remaining at 11.4 percent of all children, or 8.4 million, in 2003. With an uninsured rate at 19.2 percent, children in poverty were more likely to be uninsured than all children.
• The uninsured rate and number of uninsured increased from 2002 to 2003 for non-Hispanic Whites (from 10.7 percent and 20.8 million to 11.1 percent and 21.6 million), but not for Blacks or Asians . Although the number of uninsured increased for Hispanics (from 12.8 million to
13.2 million), their uninsured rate was unchanged at 32.7 percent.

(sublinhados meus)

Ao almoço fiquei a saber que as vendas dos carros de luxo dispararam em Portugal.
Ao jantar, contam-me que Bush tem 11 pontos de avanço sobre Kerry.